Kayla wondered what the two of them had been through together. She hadn’t spoken to Gage about his time in the service, and she couldn’t really ask him since she wasn’t remotely prepared to talk about her past. Ever.
A bell rang above the door as they entered the deli she’d eaten lunch in so many times in her life she couldn’t count them. Even as a small child, her dad had brought her there for lunch. The owners treated her like their own. And thank God she had so many kind people in her court. It made returning to Vegas after Simon so much easier. The police chief had taken her back and given her a job without batting an eye. Eva and Ward, the older couple who owned the deli, greeted her with open arms, never asking a word about where she’d been. As if four years hadn’t passed since the last time she’d been in.
At first it had unnerved her the way everyone treated her with kid gloves, as if they knew something about her past, but then she decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and took their kindness graciously. Lord knew she needed the friendships.
And Marci had been a godsend. Kayla’d met her on the first day back at the office. Marci was Chief Edwards’ secretary, and immediately Kayla trusted the woman. The two of them were close in age. Marci was married and had a two-year-old son, but she included Kayla in many of her family’s activities.
In two years, Kayla had not reconnected with any of her high school friends. She had no interest in getting together with anyone from her previous life. She couldn’t begin to explain what she’d been doing since high school and frankly never wanted to share that side of herself with anyone. Including the man currently pulling out a chair for her to take a seat.
“I’ll order. You keep Thor. It’s crowded in here.” He nodded at the menu on the chalkboard above the counter. “Know what you want?”
“A BLT would be great. And iced tea.” She reached for her purse to give him some money, but he disappeared through the crowd before she could stop him. Trying to relax, Kayla threaded her fingers into Thor’s hair and scratched the top of his head. The dog sat perfectly next to her, but when she stroked his fur, he set his head on her lap. If only people were that reliable.
Gage returned in minutes and settled food all over the table. He smiled as he nodded at the way she held on to his dog. “You’re going to spoil him. He won’t want to come home with me.”
She jerked her hand free of his fur, and Thor immediately popped his head up.
Gage sat in the chair across from her at the small round table. “Kayla, I was kidding.” He reached across the table and grabbed her hand to squeeze it.
“Of course.” She forced a smile. If she’d stopped to think about his words, she would have realized that. But habit made her forget a man could joke around.
Thor lay on the floor between them with a sigh, his head on his front paws.
“How was your morning?” Gage asked before he lifted his sandwich and took an enormous bite.
“Good. Yours?”
“Good.” He set his food down and wiped his mouth. “How long do you suppose we’re going to dance around each other?”
She shrugged, picking at the top piece of bread she hadn’t touched yet. She’d never been so uncomfortable.
Gage reached over and lifted her chin with one finger. His eyebrows rose. “No pressure, okay? You needed the release. I provided it. It can mean whatever you need it to mean.”
Right. In her experience there was no such thing. And her pussy tingled from his touch as though he were still pressing his fingers into her. She nodded but shifted her gaze to the table.
Gage sighed. “Kayla. Look at me.” He removed his fingers and lowered both hands to his lap as she jerked her face to meet his. “I’m not going to deny I’m attracted to you. You’ve probably known it for months. And it’s been a damn long time since I’ve met anyone I was physically attracted to who also happened to enjoy a bit of kink. But I’m not an ass. And I want to help you. Your terms.
“Do you enjoy my company?”
She widened her gaze. How could she not enjoy his company? “Of course.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Then how about we spend some time together? Get to know each other? What do you have to lose?”
What do I have to lose? Everything.
She swallowed through the lump in her throat. “I’m a disaster. And I’m not looking for a relationship.”
“Noted.”
What was happening here? “I’m not even looking for a date.”
“Also, noted.” The man picked up his sandwich and took another huge bite as though they were discussing a wallpaper choice. “Eat, Kayla.” He pointed at her food.
She wasn’t sure how she could swallow a single bite with him watching her. His frame filled the entire room. The table looked ridiculous in front of him. He wore the usual black polo shirt over a black tee that pulled tight around his muscles. And as she watched him chew, she wanted to rub her face against the close beard that covered his chin. Here she sat, having lunch with the sexiest man in Vegas, and she was too busy telling him she didn’t want to date.
She squirmed in her seat, her legs bouncing under the table as she attempted to squeeze them together. And she watched as Gage polished off his sandwich and sat back in his chair, sucking down a soda.
“Baby, you haven’t touched your sandwich.” He nodded at her food again. “How about you eat and I tell you about myself.”
She scrunched up her nose. “In exchange for what?”
He chuckled. “Not everything I give you has to have expectations of reciprocation, baby.” He leaned his elbows on the table. “Have you not realized that about me?”
She should have. The man gave her two glorious orgasms last night and asked for nothing in return. Yet.
In her experience that was unheard of.
He narrowed his gaze again, so she picked up her sandwich and took a bite. It was delicious. Maybe she could eat after all. “Okay, tell me all about yourself.” She straightened her spine and took another bite, her gaze locked on his dark face. His full lips made her wonder what it would be like to have them on hers, or any other place on her body for that matter. She shook the thought away as he began.
“I was born and raised here in Vegas.”
“Me too.”
He smiled. “Look at us sharing,” he teased. “I was raised on the poor side of town, though.” He grinned bigger. “My parents worked hard, but they didn’t have the money to pay for college. So I enlisted in the army when I graduated from high school.”
“God, you were so young. That must have been tough.”
“Yes. And no. In a way I loved it. It opened a whole new world for me.” He glanced down at Thor and continued, “I was interested in law enforcement at the time, so I joined the military police. I had also always been good with dogs. I had trained my own two pups growing up, loving the challenge of getting them to do the strangest things. Impressed my friends every time they came over.
“Anyway, when the army found out how I was with dogs, they assigned me to the K-9 unit, and I became the luckiest bastard in the military. I got Thor when he was six months old. He was by my side through two tours in Iraq. When I left the army, I got even luckier and was able to adopt Thor. He’s been with me almost non-stop his entire life.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.” The man did have an interesting tale to tell, and little did he know his love for pets endeared her to him even more. Simon hated animals. Almost as much as he hated humans. Maybe that should have been a sign to her. Or maybe she shouldn’t have gone into that relationship with blinders on. “Why did you leave the army? You’re so young.”
“I was tired. I worked hard for nine years. When it was time to reenlist, I decided to cut loose. Being in the military, well, being on the front line, it takes a toll on people. I’m no exception. I couldn’t stand the thought of giving any more of my life to that sort of death and destruction.” He shivered as he spoke.
“Sorry.” She felt bad for bringing up such a painful experience.
“No worries. It’s part of who I am. And without the army, I wouldn’t be where I am today, doing what I love most in the world—training in the K-9 unit.”
“You’re clearly good at it.” She reached down and gave Thor a pat on the head. “Why didn’t you become a police officer when you got out?”
He shrugged. “Frankly, I had lost interest. There’s a huge difference between the military police and a civilian officer. I knew by then I was way more interested in training dogs than handing out traffic tickets.”
That made sense.
“Hey, you managed to eat.” Gage reached for her wrapper and balled it up with his. “I’ll keep in mind that any time you need nourishment…all I have to do is talk your ear off.” The twinkle in his eye made her go soft in all the wrong places…or maybe she needed to admit the places were right.
Gage cleaned off the table and walked Kayla back across the street, Thor at his side. He leaned over her desk as she sat. “Dinner?”
“You’re persistent.”
“I am.”
She tried to think of an excuse to avoid him for the evening. If she let herself continue seeing him this often, she might lose her resolve to keep it simple.
“Did your car start okay this morning?”
“Yes. Thank you very much. I still owe you for the battery.”
“Good. You can cook for me. I’ll be over around six.” And with that, he sauntered off, leaving her speechless and stressed.
She watched as Thor wagged his tail, glancing back over his shoulder to look at Kayla. His owner did not.
»»•««
Gage pulled into Kayla’s driveway at exactly six o’clock. He jumped from his Jeep and waited for Thor to hop out behind him. The dog looked excited when he saw where they were, wagging his tail and circling Gage’s legs. “Dude, you’re going to give me a complex if you keep this up.” He climbed the steps to her front door and rang the doorbell. Thor stuck his nose to the window as if he knew he would get a glimpse of Kayla first.
When the door finally opened, Kayla stood there nervously holding the frame, her face flat. “I told you I don’t cook.”
Gage smiled. At least she wasn’t flat out rejecting him. “And I told you I didn’t care.”
Thor wasn’t patient enough for this conversation from the doorstep. He pushed his way past Gage and nuzzled Kayla’s hand until she smiled down and patted his head.
She lifted her gaze and rolled her eyes. “You coming in? Or just dropping Thor off for babysitting?”
Gage entered when she stepped back, and he shut the door behind him. He lifted his nose in the air and sniffed. “Wait a minute. I smell food.”
“Yeah, well, I was afraid you weren’t kidding about dinner, and a man your size has to eat, so I picked up Mexican on the way home. It’s warming in the oven.”
Gage took her hand and lifted it to his face, rubbing his close-cropped beard with the backs of her fingers as he gauged her reaction. She still wore the dress she’d had on at work, a sundress that reached to her knees. He loved it. The color, a pale pink, suited her perfectly, and the bodice hugged her chest. She’d worn a short sweater over it at work, but now the sweater was gone.
One of the bonuses of living in Vegas—the weather forced women to be sexy all year.
She didn’t pull away from him. In fact, she leaned closer. “Gage,” she muttered.
“Yeah.”
“I can’t do the girlfriend thing.” She shook her head and gently tugged her hand away.
“You mentioned that.” He ignored her and made his way into her home. When he reached her kitchen, he started opening cabinets and drawers until he had plates and silverware.
Kayla leaned against the island, biting her lip. Thor sidled up to her and rubbed her leg with his head until she set her hand on him and stroked his fur.
Gage removed two tinfoil trays from the oven and set them on potholders on the island. He decided to talk while he worked. “You need a Dom. I’m a Dom. You like me. I like you.” He opened the foil tops, letting the steam out. “God, that smells delicious.”
“I never said I needed a Dom.”
“True. But you do. You’ve been milling around Extreme for months. I’ve rarely seen you work with a Dom. I bet it was tough for you to ask me to do a scene with you.” He lifted his gaze to watch her expression.
She nodded. That was all he got.
“So, maybe we can eat first, and then we’ll play a game.”
“A game?” She stepped back, her eyes going wide.
He swore he saw fear in her expression. That didn’t set well. “A verbal game, baby. Words. You sit staring at me while I try to piece together your life. That way you don’t have to actually tell me anything.”
“I don’t like that game.”
“I’m sure you don’t.” He forced a smile and dished up the food onto two plates. When he finished, he carried it to the table. “Sit, baby. Eat.”
Kayla came to his side and took the same chair she had last night. He liked this new arrangement. He liked eating with this woman while his dog sat at her feet as though she were his new owner. He wasn’t even jealous. If his dog liked someone, it said a lot about the person.
They ate with few words between them. Surprisingly Gage didn’t have to beg Kayla to eat this time. He wasn’t sure if she ate so slowly all the time, or just when she was with him.
When they finished, Kayla started to stand.
He set a hand on her arm. “Stay. I’ll clean up.”
She nodded, her eyes wide again. Shocked. Hadn’t a man ever take care of her before?
Gage put the food in the refrigerator and the plates in the sink, and then he took Kayla’s hand and lured her into the living area. He pulled her down next to him on the couch.
She turned sideways, leaned against the arm, and tucked her legs under her, careful to keep her skirt wrapped around her knees. Thor, having followed her, sat again at her feet, sighing as he settled his head on his front paws.
Gage turned halfway around so he faced her. “All right. So, let me get my facts straight. You were born and raised in Vegas.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He shook his head. “Don’t do that. We’re just talking. When you sub for me, you can call me Sir if you’d like. When we’re just two people hanging out or eating or whatever, we’re equals.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
Gage went back to his inquisition, hoping to gain some insight into Kayla’s past. “So, your dad worked for the department until he died when you were eighteen?”
“Yeah.” She lowered her gaze and fiddled with the material of her dress in her lap.
“I’m sorry. That sucks. Where was your mom?”
“She died when I was young. Breast cancer. It was just me and my dad.”
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” Hearing that made his chest squeeze. He knew about sick parents. It tugged at his heart. He wanted to reach for her and pull her close to him, but he didn’t.
When she didn’t move, he continued. Better to leave that subject behind. “So you worked at the police station after your dad died?”
“Yes.” The one-word answers were better than nothing.
“Did you go to college?”
“I got my associates before—”
“Before what?”
She hesitated, her fingers balling into fists. “Before I moved away for a few years.”
And there was the gap. “Where did you go?”
She lifted her gaze. “I’d rather not discuss it. It’s private and it’s painful, Gage. Please leave it alone.”
Fuck. He nodded. If he didn’t respect a few boundaries, she’d never trust him. “Okay, baby. Then you came back, two years ago?”
“Yeah.” Tears filled her eyes, and she wiped them with the back of her hand.
Fuck fuck. “Chief Edwards gave you a job.”
“He did. He’s
like a father to me. Thank God.” Her cheeks were pink, but the tears stopped.
“When did you first dabble in BDSM?”
She opened her mouth, and then she paused. It seemed she was thinking of the best way to answer, probably without giving too much away, but not wanting to lie to him. He liked that. “When I moved away.”
“Ah, and it was good?”
“At first.” She unfolded her legs, twisted her body, and stood. She stepped over Thor and began to pace. Thor lifted his head and wagged his tail, but he didn’t get up. “Look, Gage. This isn’t going to work. I’m not giving you more than that. I can’t. I won’t. And it’s not fair to you. I’m sorry I approached you and gave you the wrong impression. I didn’t mean to lead you on. I only wanted to do a scene.”
Lead me on?
The woman had no more led him on than she had spit in his face. Something in her mind was seriously twisted. “Kayla.” He waited for her to stop pacing and look at him. “You’ve done no such thing. You did not lead me on by asking me to do a scene. It’s customary to do such a thing, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the way I feel about you.”
She flinched and stepped back.
Fuck. Again, fuck. He shouldn’t have said that. He was pushing. “What I mean is that I would do a scene with you any day. I would do a scene with nearly anyone who asked me if I thought it was the right thing for them. I’m incredibly sorry for misjudging you the night you asked me to flog you. That was the first time I’ve ever agreed to do something I shouldn’t have. The reality is I knew better. I could tell you were hesitant. My judgment was clouded by the fact that I wanted to do anything you asked me, even against my instincts.
“I was overjoyed you approached me, and I should have known better. Read you better. Paid closer attention. I’m so sorry, baby.” He stood and shuffled closer to her. When she didn’t move, he set his hands on her shoulders and waited for her to lift her gaze. “I was attracted to you, and I let that cloud my decision to flog you. I knew better.”
She shook her head. “How do you do that?”
The Fight Club - Boxed Set Page 68
